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Evaluating the soil in your raised bed

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RonTaiapa

The document provides instructions for preparing soil in a raised bed garden. It discusses evaluating the existing soil type, which can be sandy loam, clay loam or loam. It also describes adding organic matter like compost or manure to improve soil structure and nutrient content. A key recommendation is to turn over the existing soil, break up any clumps, and thoroughly mix in amendments to create a friable soil suitable for growing vegetables.

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Soil preparation • Evaluating the soil in your raised bed and the organic matter you are using to top your bed up with.
Raised bed soil • The base of the raised bed will sit on a certain soil type. As indicated. • Most soils are loams which are a mixture of sand, silt and clays organic matter and air.
Loams • Loams are named according to the main textural class present. • The 3 broad groups are • Sandy loams • Loams • Clay loams
preparing your base soil • Firstly mark out your bed and then turn the soil over with a spade or shovel. • Check the depth of the soil. Ideal at this stage is if the soil is dark, friable, and 30-40cm deep. • If not fork over the bottom of the trench or double dig.
Evaluate your soil texture • A simple way to check • You can also use a feel soil texture is to test. moisten the soil and • Soils of different form it into a ball or textures also feel worm shape and then different . press it with your • Sands feel gritty thumb. • Clays feel smooth and • The way the soil slippery, and deforms tells you its texture. • Loams sit in between
Sandy loams • Sandy loams don’t hang together well and wont easily form a ball or break up easy when you try to roll them into a worm shape. • They don’t hold water well and are normally low on nutrients
Clay loams • These soils are yellow to brown, they form a ball or worm well and when you press them you leave a clear imprint of your thumb • Clays are high in nutrients but these soils bake dry in summer and flood in winter because of their fine pore spaces
loams • These are the best soils for gardening on they are made up of • 40% sand, 40% silt and 15% clay and 5% organic matter. • When you roll and squeeze them they deform but don’t break apart
Soil structure • This describes the way • A simple shatter test your soil hangs will tell you what sort of together. structure your soil has. • An ideal soil structure • Take a spade full of soil for growing vegetables and drop the back of is one that is described the spade onto the as friable. This means it ground, the soil on top breaks up easily into a will beak up, shatter. crumbly form . • Different soils behave differently.
Shatter test sandy loam • Sands are loose and collapse when you try to cultivate them • Note the way the block of soil has broken up and collapsed
Shatter test clay loam • Clays are tight and blocky and are hard to break up and cultivate • Note how they kept their shape and hardly broke up when dropped
Shatter test loam • Loams break up well to form a friable soil which drains well but holds sufficient air and water. • Note the crumbly friable nature of the soil after it was dropped
Adding to your raised bed. • The advantage of raised beds is that you can easily add • Topsoil • Compost • Potting mix • Dried manures • Or any combination of the above to improve on the soil you already have
Adding compost 1 • Compost is ready for use when • it has broken down and you cant tell what the raw materials were that made it up • It is a dark colour • It is crumbly and full of worms. • This is home made, why would you buy it when you can make your own!!
Adding compost 2 • There are many types of commercial composts available for purchase. • I Like Mushroom compost which has a wonderful spongy structure. • Add all composts thinly and regularly working them into the soil with a garden fork. • DON’T SNIFF them.
Adding Topsoil • You can top your bed up with extra top soil. But it is hard to get hold of and expensive. • Make sure you break it up well and thoroughly mix it into your existing soil. • Check that it is weed free
Adding manures • You can use dried animal manures to top your raised bed up. Like using compost light regular additions worked regularly into the soil gives the best results.

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Evaluating the soil in your raised bed

  • 1. Soil preparation • Evaluating the soil in your raised bed and the organic matter you are using to top your bed up with.
  • 2. Raised bed soil • The base of the raised bed will sit on a certain soil type. As indicated. • Most soils are loams which are a mixture of sand, silt and clays organic matter and air.
  • 3. Loams • Loams are named according to the main textural class present. • The 3 broad groups are • Sandy loams • Loams • Clay loams
  • 4. preparing your base soil • Firstly mark out your bed and then turn the soil over with a spade or shovel. • Check the depth of the soil. Ideal at this stage is if the soil is dark, friable, and 30-40cm deep. • If not fork over the bottom of the trench or double dig.
  • 5. Evaluate your soil texture • A simple way to check • You can also use a feel soil texture is to test. moisten the soil and • Soils of different form it into a ball or textures also feel worm shape and then different . press it with your • Sands feel gritty thumb. • Clays feel smooth and • The way the soil slippery, and deforms tells you its texture. • Loams sit in between
  • 6. Sandy loams • Sandy loams don’t hang together well and wont easily form a ball or break up easy when you try to roll them into a worm shape. • They don’t hold water well and are normally low on nutrients
  • 7. Clay loams • These soils are yellow to brown, they form a ball or worm well and when you press them you leave a clear imprint of your thumb • Clays are high in nutrients but these soils bake dry in summer and flood in winter because of their fine pore spaces
  • 8. loams • These are the best soils for gardening on they are made up of • 40% sand, 40% silt and 15% clay and 5% organic matter. • When you roll and squeeze them they deform but don’t break apart
  • 9. Soil structure • This describes the way • A simple shatter test your soil hangs will tell you what sort of together. structure your soil has. • An ideal soil structure • Take a spade full of soil for growing vegetables and drop the back of is one that is described the spade onto the as friable. This means it ground, the soil on top breaks up easily into a will beak up, shatter. crumbly form . • Different soils behave differently.
  • 10. Shatter test sandy loam • Sands are loose and collapse when you try to cultivate them • Note the way the block of soil has broken up and collapsed
  • 11. Shatter test clay loam • Clays are tight and blocky and are hard to break up and cultivate • Note how they kept their shape and hardly broke up when dropped
  • 12. Shatter test loam • Loams break up well to form a friable soil which drains well but holds sufficient air and water. • Note the crumbly friable nature of the soil after it was dropped
  • 13. Adding to your raised bed. • The advantage of raised beds is that you can easily add • Topsoil • Compost • Potting mix • Dried manures • Or any combination of the above to improve on the soil you already have
  • 14. Adding compost 1 • Compost is ready for use when • it has broken down and you cant tell what the raw materials were that made it up • It is a dark colour • It is crumbly and full of worms. • This is home made, why would you buy it when you can make your own!!
  • 15. Adding compost 2 • There are many types of commercial composts available for purchase. • I Like Mushroom compost which has a wonderful spongy structure. • Add all composts thinly and regularly working them into the soil with a garden fork. • DON’T SNIFF them.
  • 16. Adding Topsoil • You can top your bed up with extra top soil. But it is hard to get hold of and expensive. • Make sure you break it up well and thoroughly mix it into your existing soil. • Check that it is weed free
  • 17. Adding manures • You can use dried animal manures to top your raised bed up. Like using compost light regular additions worked regularly into the soil gives the best results.